115 



It is not surprising that when we conducted a study on the possible sources of 

 pest origin into Hawaii between 1975-1985 that 76 percent of our new pests had 

 originated from foreign areas. It is also not surprising that 16 percent had also 

 originated from Tropical America where there was no direct air or sea traffic to Ha- 

 waii. We have long been concerned about the movement of pests from Central and 

 South America through international hubs in the continental U.S. into Hawaii. Part 

 of this problem lies in a policy that takes remedial action only for "known pests" 

 of "significant risk" to the continental U.S. Case in point is the large number of or- 

 chids and other tropicals that flow virtually unrestricted into the U.S., ultimately 

 bringing pest problems to Hawaii. 



Many of Hawaii's pests can be attributed to the first class mail pathway and 

 USDA's risk assessment policy. For example, it takes only one gravid snake to sud- 

 denly remove "paradise" from Hawaii. And yet, "paradise" is what fuels our primary 

 industry, tourism. "Paradise" nurtures our native plants and animals. "Paradise" is 

 what makes Hawaii our home. That is how serious the problem is. 



Thank you for the opportunity to testify at this hearing. 



PREPARED STATEMENT OF KENNETH Y. KANESHIRO, PH.D. 



Thank you for the opportunity to provide input on the impact of non-indigenous 

 species in the United States, especially in the State of Hawaii. The recent findings 

 of the Office of Technology Assessment identified Hawaii as one of the two states 

 (Florida being the other) with particularly severe non-indigenous species problems. 

 The conservation agencies in Hawaii, including Federal, State, and non-govern- 

 mental organizations, have set the mitigation of non-indigenous species as the top 

 priority in order to protect our state's fragile island ecosystem. As Director of the 

 Center for Conservation Research & Training at the University of Hawaii, I present 

 some of my thoughts on this issue. 



Hawaii's Unique Ecosystem 



Hawaii ranks number one in the world for its tally of endemic species, even 

 though it encompasses less than two-tenths of one percent of the planet s total land 

 surface. Almost 100 percent of its invertebrate species (estimated to be about 8,000 

 soecies), 98 percent of its birds (about 100 species) and 93 percent of its flowering 

 plants (about 1,400 species) occur nowhere else on earth. Minnesota by contrast, has 

 only one endemic plant. 



"The Hawaiian Archipelago, formed in isolation in the mid-Pacific Ocean by a time- 

 sequence series of volcano formation, is considered by many scientists to be the 

 world's most outstanding living laboratory for the study of evolutionary biology. 

 Over the ages, a great variety of life forms developed that were specially adapted 

 to the conditions in Hawaii's widelv-differing ecological zones. Hawaii's increaible 

 native flora and fauna, comprising thousands of species unique to the islands, is re- 

 nowned for its examples botn of nature's creativity and her vulnerability. 



Biodiversity 



Biologists consider that biological diversity is a crucial part of life systems because 

 of the interdependencies that link flora and fauna and because variation within spe- 

 cies allows them to adapt to the challenges of an ever-changing environment. Given 

 the complex workings of an ecosystem, it is never clear which species, if any, are 

 expendable. 



Studies have shown that the greatest diversity of organisms occur in the tropics. 

 Between 60 percent and 80 percent of the species on earth are found in tropical for- 

 ests which encompass less than 7 percent of the planet's surface. While global envi- 

 ronmental issues have focused on the destruction of huge tracts of tropical 

 rainforests in Central and South America and in Southeast Asia, we have similar 

 problems here in the United States especially in Hawaii. The extinction of unique 

 life-forms in Hawaii, both plants and animals, far exceed that occurring on the con- 

 tinental United States. Our island ecosystem is extremely fragile and is highly sus- 

 ceptible to perturbation caused bv human activities. With the planet's greatest toll 

 of extinct species for a given lancf area, Hawaii also epitomizes the plight of threat- 

 ened ecosystems worldwide. 



Biotechnology 



During the last two decades, major breakthroughs in the study of basic biology 

 have occurred. It is now becoming increasingly possible to explain biological proc- 

 esses in molecular terms. The very powerful techniques developed by the field of mo- 

 lecular genetics have become the basis of a new technological revolution called bio- 



